Pope Francis waves to faithful at the end of the weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
By Nicole Winfield
Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope while being interviewed for the feature-length documentary “Francesco,” which had its premiere at the Rome Film Festival on Wednesday.
The papal thumbs up came midway through the film that delves into issues he cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.
“Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God,” Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film. “What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered.”
While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis endorsed civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he had never come out publicly in favor of civil unions as pope.
Director Evgeny Afineevsky had remarkable access to cardinals, the Vatican television archives, and the pope himself. He said he negotiated his way in through persistence, and deliveries of Argentine mate tea and Alfajores cookies that he got to the pope via some well-connected Argentines in Rome.
Rescue teams in eastern Libya have retrieved hundreds of bodies from the city of Derna that's been inundated by devastating floods that killed hundreds.
Authorities searched Monday for escaped murderer Danelo Souza Cavalcante who has eluded capture since breaking out of a southeastern Pennsylvania prison a week and a half ago after he apparently slipped through a search perimeter, changed his appearance, stole a dairy delivery van and contacted acquaintances.
An earthquake has sown destruction and devastation in Morocco, where death and injury counts continue to rise as rescue crews dig out people both alive and dead in villages that were reduced to rubble.
Self-care is important in everyone's lives but sometimes it could be hard to fit it into your budget. Wellness expert Sam Tejada, author of "How to Win in Modern Wellness," joined Cheddar News to explain how to treat yourself without breaking the bank.
